The latest in COVID-cancellations is the Dirty Kanza, but it’s not gone. The biggest gravel race in the US will still be returning to Emporia, Kansas this year, just a little later than originally scheduled. Announced last night after the culmination of their virtual Dirty Kanza training camp – a 4-day online “immersive camp experience for the gravel community”, the DK originally planned to run on the last day of May will now shift to mid September…
Dirty Kanza gravel race postponed until September 11-13
It does not really come as a surprise, but the Life Time team who organize the iconic gravel race have made the decision to move the Dirty Kanza to the weekend of September 11-13. “We are all going through this unprecedented time together, and while this was an incredibly hard decision for the team, the safety of the riders and the community of Emporia comes first.”
The DK team made the announcement over a Zoom chat on Facebook Live after the virtual camp wrapped. Race organizers remain steadfast in their “commitment to positively support the Emporia community and participating athletes” and hope all those cyclist who were planning to join them this spring will be able to make the shift to September once we’ve hopefully come through the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Those cyclists who have registered and planned to attend are being presented with three options:
- keep current race entry and participate in the rescheduled event in September,
- defer current race entry to next year’s 2021 event without any extra fee, or
- get a full refund for 2020 entry fees.
“We know that our athletes have trained hard for Dirty Kanza, so we wanted to maintain the event on our 2020 calendar,” says Kimo Seymour, president of Life Time Events & Media. “In choosing the rescheduled date, we applied careful consideration to avoid interfering with other scheduled races. While delayed from our typical timing, we believe this new date will allow athletes, promoters, sponsors and partners to come together for a fantastic event. Working together will be vital to ensure the health of our cycling community both on and off the bike.”
More detail on the postponement with additional FAQs are available on the race website.
